perífrase
Portuguese, noun/peˈɾi.fɾa.zi/
perífrase is spelled P-E-R-Í-F-R-A-S-E (9 letters) and appears about once in every 65 million words in written Portuguese, the 221,886th most frequent Portuguese word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Perífrase is a Portuguese feminine noun meaning “periphrasis (use of a longer expression instead of a shorter one)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) defines it as “processo que consiste em expressar por muitas palavras o que se poderia dizer em poucos termos”.
What does perífrase mean in English?
noun
- 1
feminineperiphrasis (use of a longer expression instead of a shorter one)
Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Portuguese dictionaries define it
noun: 1. processo que consiste em expressar por muitas palavras o que se poderia dizer em poucos termos 2. rodeio, circunlóquio 3. emprego de um grupo de palavras em lugar do termo próprio (por exemplo, país do Sol nascente, ao invés de Japão)
The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.
Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of perífrase
- perífrases plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce perífrase?
- Brazil /peˈɾi.fɾa.zi/
- Portugal /pɨˈɾi.fɾɐ.zɨ/
Sources: English Wiktionary, Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to perífrase
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is perífrase in Portuguese?
perífrase appears about once in every 65 million words in written Portuguese.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).